1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a non-laser optical bodies and devices, and especially, but not exclusively, to photorefractive devices and methods involving photorefractive materials.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Photorefractive materials are materials whose refractive index varies dependent upon the gradient of changing light intensity in the material. Such materials are typically crystals, but can be polymers or liquid crystals.
Non-linear optics are crucial to many applications, ranging from laser systems to data storage. Many of these applications rely on the non-linear optical properties of single crystal materials. Unfortunately, many of these materials are difficult to grow successfully in sizes that are sufficiently large for the intended applications. This has severely limited the usefulness of a wide variety of non-linear optical crystals.